A Tale of Tails, Sunsets and Burned Bridges

by Ozone31

Enter: The Eight Tails

(Kurama's POV)

I watched quietly as Sunset Shimmer ducked and weaved her way through the corridors of Canterlot High, desperately trying to avoid the glares and hateful looks of her classmates, as she headed towards the school's front doors. It was the end of the third school day after the Fall Formal 'incident' and as far as the rest of the school new, it had been all her doing. Only a select few people knew of my existence: the principals, the five of the human elements and Vinyl Scratch.

"Speak of the devil" I chuckled to myself from within my cave. As Sunset exited the school building, after almost having a door slammed in her face by a particularly rude student, I spotted the shades-wearing, teenage DJ standing in the school courtyard, waving over-enthusiastically at her adoptive sister.

"HEEEEEEY, SUNSET!" she yelled, waving so hard her arm almost came off. "I'M OVER HERE! CAN YOU SEE ME?!" I couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing, falling onto my back and kicking the air. I'd always found it funny how one of the most reserved people in the school had two of the most energetic people in the world as friends.

"Shut up Kurama." she muttered to me under her breath, having not quite mastered passive telepathy, so she had to say everything to me, either, out loud or come visit me in the seal-which involved her passing out in reality. So she could look a little mad some times as she was regularly telling her belt buckle to shut up. Upon reaching her sister, Sunset was immediately caught in a bear hug that pushed all of the air from her body.

"Did ya' see me?"

"Yes Vin...yl" Sunset was able to wheeze and as the pressure didn't release: "Could...you...let...go? Can't...Breath." she was on the edge of fainting from oxygen starvation, when Vinyl let her go. Despite her boundary and social ignorance, Sunset loved Vinyl and I knew that the DJ acted that way because she reciprocated those feeling, but just had a different way of expressing them.

"It's good to see ya survived another day at Canterlot High sis." Vinyl smiled, giving Sunset a firm slap on the back and began to escort her towards the mobile music station that was her car.

"You know you don't have to pick me up everyday, right Vinyl?" Sunset began, rubbing her sore back. "I've been walking home ever since I started coming here."

"I know, but I realized that you need me now." Vinyl said bluntly, staring straight ahead.

"Huh?"

The two stepped into the car and sat in silence for a while, as Vinyl stated the car up and drove away from the school. I was intrigued, I had no idea that Vinyl could think with sentiment, or any emotion other than blind happiness.

"I know you've been having a bad time of it recently and the fact I yelled at you a last week only made it worse." Sunset turned her head to look down at her feet at that point. That had been the same day Kyuubi had replaced Sunset with Sundown. She told me that she'd had a massive argument with Vinyl, who said she was nothing but a grumpy stick-in-the-mud and Sunset, in return, had said that Vinyl was nothing but a stupid DJ whose brain had been rotted away by years of listening to loud music. Kyuubi had used that anger to create Sundown and lock Sunset away within the seal. It still stung her to think about it.

"I know I can never really atone for abandoning you." Vinyl quickly rubbed away a tear as it began to roll out from under her shades. Sunset reached across and put a hand on her sister's shoulder and smiled. Vinyl couldn't turn to smile back since she was driving, but she made sure her smile was wide enough to be seen from the side of her face. "But I'm gonna' try." her smile broke into a full grin, as she violently turned a corner and whooped as another driver honked their horn at her. Sunset let out a small scream as she was pressed against the car door, her finger nails dragging across its surface in an attempt to find purchase. She then had to take a minute to calm her breathing and slow her heart rate down.

"First, Vinyl, you should know that I've already forgiven you." Sunset said her tone friendly and sincere, before going dangerously calm: "And second, STOP DIVING LIKE A BLOODY MANIAC!!"

I chuckled as Sunset vented at Vinyl for being, possibly, the worst driver in the world and was about to go back to sleep, when I felt a massive amount of power discharged from somewhere, in the direction of the coast.

I reacted quickly, slamming my palms together and focusing chakra. I appeared in the real world in puff of smoke, that scared Sunset and Vinyl out of their skin. Luckily the DJ was, actually, a pretty good driver and she was able to pull over and stop before we crashed into anything.

"Kurama what the h-" Sunset began, clearing away the smoke to look at me, but found nothing.

"Down here." Sunset looked down and spotted me-in a miniature version of my full form. She stared at me for a second, jaw slack and eyes wide.

"What. The. Hell." was all she could force out.

"What?"

"What the hell is...this." she strained to hold in the urge to shout, gesturing to my form.

"Chibi mode." I said flatly. "Hey Vinyl."

"Yo." she grinned with a wave. Sunset shook off her surprise and face-palmed.

"Do you need something?" she huffed, forcing away the need to ask about how or why I'd created this form. "Or did you just come here to show off how small you can be?"

"Oh yeah that's all, s'not like I felt a massive and potentially dangerous energy surge of the coast, or anything like that." I had to admit, it'd been awhile since I'd gone off on a sarcastic tangent like that. "But ya' know what does it matter in comparison to my ability to take on chibi mode."

Sunset was about to respond, but couldn't find anything to say, so she simply sat back huffily in her seat and Vinyl sniggered.

"Something funny?" the passenger asked grumpily.

"He looks so adorable, with his little arms folded and that cute little pouty face." she attempted to scratch me behind the ears, but I swatted her off with my tails.

"Hey! Fate of your home in the balance here!" I shouted, trying to swipe at her with my stubby arms, to no avail.

"I'm guessing you two need a ride?"

"Please" Sunset said curtly.

"Okay, under one condition." Vinyl grinned evilly, making me dread what horrific thoughts were cycling through her psychotic head.

Oh no, I know that look. What does she want? Will she ask me to wear one of those pet dresses? Or make me do cute poses for photos?Or...or make me watch the shopping channel?! I was so nervous I was sweating, tapping on the seat with one claw and a twitch had developed in my right eye. My anxiousness only grew worse as Vinyl took in a deep breath. Not the shopping channel. Not the shopping channel. Not the shopping channel.

"I get to go with you, where ever you go."

"Yes"

"We haven't even told yo- Wait, what?!" after her double-take, Sunset looked at me as if I'd just sprouted an extra head.

"There's a small island of the coast of town right?" I asked quickly

"Well yeah but-"

"That's where it is and Vinyl can come with! See ya!" I 'poofed' as soon as I'd finished, not waiting for Vinyl to think of something, that I considered, to be far worse that what she'd asked for. Sunset sighed, rubbing her temples and sitting back in her seat.

"So I can come?" Vinyl was not a good winner.

"*sigh* Yeah, why not?"

"YEAH! ROAD TRIP!"

---

Before long the three of us were standing on the deserted beach, the two girls side-by-side, me on Sunset's shoulder. We were looking out towards the island in the distance, a thin fog surrounding it.

"Can you still feel it?" Sunset asked, turning her head slightly to look at me.

"Clear as day." I whispered, the sheer amount of power astounding me so much it made me lose my voice.

"How're we gonna' get over there?" Vinyl asked, looking around us. "I don't see a boat."

I leapt off Sunset's shoulder, putting my palms together again and channelling more chakra. With another puff of smoke I was in human form again and without hesitating I created a shadow clone and we picked up Sunset and Vinyl respectively.

"Woah, what's going on?" the DJ asked, blushing slightly at the gesture.

"Last time I checked, neither of you can run on water."

The trip over was fairly uneventful, except for Vinyl whooping and cheering all the way over, as if she was at a rave. There were a few times where my shadow clone lost focus and almost fell into the sea, as every now-and-then Vinyl would let out a cry of excitement and nearly punch him in the face with her flailing arms. But he survived the journey and before long we arrived at the island, my shadow clone disappeared and I returned to chibi mode.

"So now what?" Vinyl asked, getting up from the floor as my clone hadn't put her down before 'poofing' himself. I jumped up onto Sunset's shoulder again and pointed towards the other side of the island.

"I can sense the surge as being strongest in that direction." There was a thick but small forest in the centre of the island, reminding me of the deserted islands that I heard about when I was young, tales of sailors becoming stranded on beaches bordered by dense forests and going missing once entering the foliage. Some of the stories went into more detail than others and I couldn't help but become a bit antsy at the thought of giant bugs, carnivorous plants and large predators. Then I remembered, I'm the legendary, demonic incarnation of hatred and fury. What the hell am I afraid of?

Then I felt it. Another massive power surge and it was heading straight for us.

"Sunset, Link Mode!" I cried bringing my palms together again.

"What, why?"

"Do it!" hearing the urgency in my voice, she complied. Placing her own palms together we linked consciousnesses, and as I left the physical realm, Sunset became covered in golden flames of chakra.

"Stay close Vinyl" Sunset ordered, as what I'd felt came into view, in the form of a massive torrent of electrified water. I didn't have long to react, forming my head as a shield around the pair. But we didn't stop there:

"Wind Style: Jet Stream!" Sunset cried, launching a blast of wind from her mouth.

"Fire Style: Blast Burn!" I roared, at the same time a ball of bright red flame formed in my maw and when it met the tunnel of air, it erupted forth in a tornado of red fire.

The two forces met with an explosion of air, steam and static. I didn't waste any time and quickly went into my full size, Sunset and Vinyl rising up within my head. It didn't take long for my glowing, golden and black-striped form rising above the cloud of steam and the fog. It was then we saw it, a creature - easily as big as me - with a bull's head, man's torso and eight octopus tails. It was covered in thick, dense, muscley skin and a pair of white, pupil-less eyes glared at us from the sea on the other side of the island. It let out a deep, ear-ringing roar that shook the very air around it and sent tidal waves crashing against the shore line.

"Woah..." Vinyl breathed, removing her shades to get a better look at the thing. "What is it? An octopus or a bull?"

"Neither" I said grimly, clenching my fists, not in anger at the creature opposite me - but at the voice, the one that created me had created another.

"Kurama?" Sunset asked, the concern clear in her voice. "

"The being that made me what I am today, made another Tailed Beast like me." I got down on to all fours, bracing myself against the sand beneath me and the sea behind, making ready to jump. "You want to know what he is Vinyl?" She nodded.

"That is the Eight Tails - Gyuki"

Author's Note:

A battle between the two strongest Tailed Beasts is about to begin. But can Kurama get through to the person within that monster? Or is there anyone left to speak to?

Find out next time

I own neither MLP:FIM or Naruto

Comments

[Sr Face Tear]

Of course I got an add for some online Naruto game at the end of this chapter.

[Ozone31]

7164050 A response that is long overdue, sorry 'bout that.

I can't really tell you the difference with absolute certainty. There is the obvious difference in appearance, and difference in abilities and relevance to Naruto's plot. But with all the types and levels of Sharingan, and everything about the Rinnegan being confusing to me - I honestly couldn't tell you the absolute difference between them without a chapter's worth of explanation and without giving myself a migraine.

Once again sorry for the ultra late reply